RETAIL ASSESSMENT LIDL LAND ADJACENT TO A429, MALMESBURY RETAIL ASSESSMENT On behalf of: Lidl In respect of: Land Adjacent to A429, Malmesbury Date: November 2017 Reference: GSST/0001 Author: GS DPP Planning Sophia House 28 Cathedral Road Cardiff CF11 9LJ Tel: 029 2066 0265 E-mail [email protected] www.dppukltd.com CARDIFF LEEDS LONDON MANCHESTER NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Lidl Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 4 2.0 SITE DESCRIPTION AND PLANNING HISTORY .................................... 6 3.0 THE APPLICATION PROPOSAL ............................................................ 8 4.0 PLANNING POLICY CONTEXT ...........................................................12 5.0 BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSAL ...........................................................17 6.0 SHOPPING PATTERNS IN THE MALMESBURY STUDY AREA .............21 7.0 QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT .............................................................26 8.0 RETAIL POLICY CONSIDERATIONS ....................................................34 9.0 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .......................................................48 APPENDIX 1 – MALMESBURY STUDY ZONES .........................................52 APPENDIX 2 – MALMESBURY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY .............................53 APPENDIX 3 – MALMESBURY PLANS .................................................. 111 APPENDIX 4 – TABLES .......................................................................... 113 Land Adjacent to A429, Malmesbury 3 Lidl 1.0 Introduction 1.1 This report is submitted in support of a full planning application, on behalf of Lidl, for the erection of a Class A1 foodstore, car parking and associated works on land adjacent to the A429 in Malmesbury, North Wiltshire. 1.2 This report considers the retail planning issues associated with the proposal. Other technical and planning matters are dealt with in the suite of accompanying reports submitted in support of the proposed development. Section 2 describes the site and its surroundings, whilst Section 3 describes the application proposals. Section 4 sets out the planning policy context against which the application falls to be considered. Section 5 examines the planning benefits associated with the proposal, whilst Section 6 considers current shopping patterns in the defined Malmesbury Study Area as revealed by the recently undertaken NEMS Household Survey. Section 7 provides a qualitative assessment of both Malmesbury town centre and other relevant centres in the Study Area, including Tetbury, whilst Section 8 assesses the proposal against the relevant sequential approach and retail impact tests. Finally, our summary and conclusions are provided at Section 9. Land Adjacent to A429, Malmesbury 4 SITE DESCRIPTION AND PLANNING HISTORY Lidl 2.0 Site Description and Planning History 2.1 The 2 acre application site is located on the south-eastern edge of Malmesbury, on the eastern side of the A429– an important “strategic” route linking to the M4 in the south and Cirencester to the north. The application site, which comprises an undeveloped green field, is located directly opposite the existing Waitrose store and, whilst it is situated outside the Settlement Boundary as defined in the development plan, it is just to the north of existing properties that front onto the B4042 – which do fall within the Settlement Boundary. In terms of its relationship with the centre of Malmesbury, the application site is situated approximately 500 metres from the Town Centre boundary and some 800 metres from the Primary Shopping Area, as defined in the Development Plan. In retail planning policy terms, it is acknowledged that the site is located “out of centre”. 2.2 The site is bound by green fields to the north and east, detached residential properties to the south and the A429 to the east. 2.3 In terms of current public transport provision, there are bus stops situated within approximately 270 metres of the site, on the B4042. Planning history 2.4 There is no relevant planning history in the context of Lidl’s current proposed development. Land Adjacent to A429, Malmesbury 6 THE APPLICATION PROPOSAL Lidl 3.0 The Application Proposal Background 3.1 Lidl is a successful discount food retailer which is not currently represented within Malmesbury or the wider rural hinterland that comprises the Study Area for the application proposal. In terms of Lidl’s current representation further afield, its nearest stores are located at Cirencester, Dursley, Swindon and Yate, some 13-16 miles away from Malmesbury. This represents a qualitative weakness in the retail offer of the local area, and coincides with a period of unprecedented popularity for such stores. Consequently, local residents wishing to take advantage of Lidl’s exceptional value have no choice but to travel to Lidl foodstores further afield to meet their needs, with associated dis-benefits in terms of consumer convenience and sustainability. 3.2 In response, and in order to remedy this qualitative deficiency in existing retail provision, Lidl has identified the subject site as representing an ideal opportunity to provide the local community with an enhanced retail offer. Establishing a Lidl store at this location will increase consumer choice and competition, whilst also assisting in reducing vehicle movements and mileage to stores and locations further afield. The site itself comprises green-field land and, therefore, contributes nothing positive to the local economy. In sharp contrast, and given Lidl’s commitment to invest in Malmesbury following the grant of planning permission, this proposed ‘economic development’ will, if consented, be built-out at the earliest opportunity - enhancing the local area’s retail offer and creating jobs at a highly accessible and sustainable location. The Application Proposal 3.3 The application proposes the erection of a new foodstore (1794 m2 GIA; 1104 m2 net), together with associated car parking (119 spaces including 7 Disabled and 8 Parent&Child spaces), servicing and landscaping. Typically, 80% of a Lidl store’s net floorspace is devoted to the sale of convenience goods which, in this case, would be 883 m2. The residual 20%, is accounted for by comparison goods floorspace, namely, 221 m2. For comparative purposes, the respective net and convenience/comparison goods floorspace totals for the neighbouring Waitrose store are: 1672 m2; 1421 m2 and 251m2. In terms of net floorspace, the proposed Lidl store is therefore some 568m2 (34%) smaller than the Waitrose store. 3.4 Access/egress will be provided off the A429. Lidl’s Trading Profile 3.5 Lidl was established in the UK in 1994 and now trades from over 700 stores nationwide. The fundamental premise of Lidl’s business model is that the company can offer very competitive prices i.e. “everyday low pricing”, whilst keeping the quality of its goods extremely high. It is able to do this through a combination of factors including: Its tremendous buying power as a result of the scale of its operations across Europe; Land Adjacent to A429, Malmesbury 8 Lidl Its decision to stock a more limited product range than its competitors, concentrating on those goods that form a very high proportion of the weekly food and convenience goods needs of most households; A concentration on own brands (which constitute the majority of its product range); The consistent application across its stores of standardised servicing and operating systems that minimise operational costs; and Simple product display and stock handling procedures. 3.6 With regard to Lidl’s standard product range, this includes the following: Everyday core grocery items; Selected non branded household products; The provision of chilled / frozen foods; A range of fresh produce (fruit and vegetables); and Wrapped and unwrapped fresh bread and a selection of part-baked items. 3.7 In light of the current challenging economic climate, it is considered that the local community would particularly benefit from Lidl’s very competitive pricing and exceptional quality and value. Taking into account the relevant provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework, which encourages local planning authorities to proactively respond to ‘market signals’, it is considered that the increasing popularity of discount foodstores is an important material consideration which, given the materially different retail offer provided by the nearby Waitrose store, can reasonably be afforded weight in this particular case. 3.8 Crucially, taking into account the foregoing, there are significant differences in terms of size and retail offer between a discount food retailer and a traditional larger format supermarket. For example, Lidl does not stock convenience goods such as tobacco or individual confectionary items. Moreover, in contrast to many other large format foodstores, Lidl does not contain a post office, pharmacy, delicatessen, photo-shop or other specialist concessional facility. Finally, Lidl offers only a limited range of non-food (comparison goods) items which typically occupy about 20% of the sales area of its foodstores. These items tend to be one off specials that will be constantly changing and sold on a ‘when it’s gone it’s gone’ basis. As such, there is no standard or constant comparison goods range offered in store from week to week – mitigating any direct competition with comparison goods retailers in existing centres. 3.9 In light of the above, and unlike many large format retailers which have diversified in the past